Talking about leadership styles is something leaders do. I have this style, you have that style, etc. I like to talk about Servant Leadership, not so much as a personal preference, but as an aspiration. Servant Leadership is the most ideal way to lead, but it’s not very easy to pull-off.

What is Servant Leadership?

The concept of Servant Leadership is as old as Scripture. Jesus Christ turned the world upside down with a radically counter-cultural way to lead:

“Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’” Mark 10:42-45 NIV

The concept of Servant Leadership was popularized in modern thought by Robert K. Greenleaf in the 1970’s, and more recently by countless companies such as Home Depot, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks, REI, Zappos, and many more.  One fellow blogger found a strong relationship between Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For and those that publicly claim they value Servant Leadership.

So, how does Servant Leadership translate into the daily life of a technology leader?

1. IT is a service organization by definition. We exist to serve the business.  If we serve poorly, the business is free to hire any number of eager outsourcers.  IT wins by serving well.  Therefore, service and servanthood should be native to our DNA.
2. Engineers are often task-driven by nature, but we need to make sure relationships come first.
3. We’re smart, and we like to sound smart, but we need to seek to understand before seeking to be understood. Sometimes the best ideas come from the people closest to those problems, not from the leaders or experts.
4. Engineers can get cocky. Be humble. It’s impossible to serve when you think you are better than your team members or smarter than your customers. It just doesn’t work. Try not to be the hero. Instead focus on playing the role of the guide.
5. Inspire trust by first being trustworthy. Servant Leadership operates on the economy of trust. Trust needs to be built and the servant-leader takes the initiative to go first.
6. Take care of people. How we win matters more than winning. Finishing a project or solving a technical problem doesn’t mean anything if we devalue people in the process. The ends never justify the means.
7. Teams need support when things don’t go well. Leaders can serve their teams by being loyal when recovering from an ugly failure.
8. Don’t hoard authority. Give it away. Don’t just delegate tasks, delegate the power and accountability to make decisions closer to the customer touch-point.
9. IT can get very siloed. Break down barriers between groups. Build connections and foster community. Leaders are best positioned to do this, and it’s a great service to their teams.
10. Go long. There are other leadership styles that are more efficient for quick wins, but a servant-leader is patient to build enduring success, relationships, and culture.

These are ideals and aspirations. I daily fall short of living them in my leadership, but this what I am aiming for. This is what good leadership looks like to me.

There are many leaders that speak charismatically, master the financials, drive the achievements, and navigate the politics, but there are few that simply serve their teams and their customers above all else.  I’d personally like to be all of those things, but if I could choose one, I’d choose to be known as a servant-leader.

I’ll close this blog entry with a quote that I got to hear live during the 2014 Global Leadership Summit: “I’m tired of hearing about servant leadership because I don’t think there’s any other kind of leadership.” – Patrick Lencioni